Weekly Header Challenge - Thinking

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew 

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Thinking

In addition to having to think about this week's theme, I also had to think about how I was going to upload photos, write, and publish today's blog post without internet access.  Fortunately, our internet is back up today, and I had just enough time this morning to upload a few images to portray this week's theme.

Here is my header image, in full:

It is a picture of me--I set up my pose, and used my tripod and remote shutter release.  I had taken it for a blogger group's photography challenge a few years back, and I think it best portrays the theme of Thinking.  Just sitting in front of a warm, cozy winter fireplace, thinking about spring.  Besides being a great thinking image, I think it's a great image for today since we're once again facing one of the coldest days of winter.  :)

Here are just a few more that I could find in the few minutes I had once our internet was working again.  This first one was taken at a mother/daughter event, using my 70-300mm lens.  She didn't know I was taking this, so I think I got a sweet thinking pose without even trying.

My only other "thinking" image is from another event, a Columbus Day cook-off.  I was the photographer for the day, which was a lot of fun since I knew over half the people there.  This guy below is my cousin, Al, and he posed for me with pen in hand, thinking about which dish would get his vote for first place.

I can't take selfie credit for the below; Danny had grabbed my camera and snagged this shot of me.  On Christmas night, after everyone left, someone realized we had never looked in our stockings.  Some sweet angel had put several gift cards in mine!  We were goofing off, and I grabbed my stocking stuffers and held them like a deck of cards.  I'm thinking, "Now--which place will I go first, and what will I get?"

I hope y'all had more time to think about your thinking post today!  Can't wait to see what my fellow "headbangers" have thought up!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge - What's Up There in the Sky?

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew 

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ What's Up There in the Sky?

I almost forgot to post this week--argh!  Travel--especially when you get home at 3am and collapse into bed--messes with my head.  I keep thinking today is Monday...

You get the benefit of fewer words, and mostly pictures.  ;)

Here they are:

My header, which is the moon over my parents' lake house in the Adirondacks of upstate New York:

ISO 100, 17-85mm at 17mm, f/14, 30-second exposure (counted in my head)

More of the moon, way up there in the sky:

ISO 100, 70-300mm at 300mm, f/5.6, 1/800 second

The Florida moon, along with a few asteroid trails!!

ISO 100, 17-85mm, f/8 64-second exposure (again, counted in my head)

Below is the moon, along with Jupiter and Venus (Craver inspired this one):

February 27, 2012

ISO 100, 17-85mm at 17mm, f/22, 53-second exposure

Captured an airplane just to the left of the steeple below.

An annual airshow at the local airport, half a mile from home.  These below shots were taken from my back yard.

Way up there in the sky, for the last time, went the Space Shuttle Endeavor!  We were lucky enough to experience the launch (about 50 or so miles away) when it was delayed almost two weeks, and our vacation with friends began!

Fireworks are up there, too, especially if you're sitting really close to the launch site.  Two of my favorites from last year's Independence Day celebration:

ISO 100, 17-85mm at 17mm, f/8, 4-second exposure

This little guy thought he was way up there in the sky, too!

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge - From the Ground

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew 

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ From the Ground

When I read this week's theme, my first thought was, "I wonder when the first time was that I actually got down on the ground to take a picture?"  (You'll see that one below; it's not my header shot.)

Now, I'm typically a follow-the-rules girl, so you wouldn't normally find me lying down on the ground in the middle of a crowd of standing people.  But put a camera in my hands, and it's another story.

About my header:  After a rare trip downtown Chicago, someone had expressed surprise that we although had visited the Chicago Cultural Center, I had never really looked around.  Fernando and I had been there once to see the works of Vivian Maier (Chicago street photographer, undiscovered until after her death and pretty amazing).  But, we had never explored the building.  On this second trip back, along with Joseph and Danny, I made sure to put my explorer hat on.  We walked into Preston Bradley Hall, and my eyes naturally traveled up and up and up--the Tiffany Dome.  Here's the full photo, which does not at all do it justice.

For the above photo, I first looked around the hall.  A maintenance crew was cleaning up from an event, but motioned for us to walk around and view the amazing room.  With my lens at its widest, I couldn't quite capture the entire dome.  I looked around again, then got on the floor, fully, completely on my back, and really didn't care.  I shot straight up, keeping the hanging chandelier off-center so I could capture the center of the dome.  The below shot contains that chandelier (you can't even see the dome!) and one of the walls.  This building used to house the Chicago Public Library.

Click here to see more from our visit to the Cultural Center! 

A trip down Memory Lane.  The first image I lay down in public for!  After our friends' daughter's wedding, in which they had carted in sand so she could walk barefoot down a "beach" aisle to the altar, I wanted to get a shot of that bridal path.  I was in a fancy dress, too!  Later, another friend commented that she had seen me and exclaimed to her son, "Oh my--someone's on the ground!"  Her son responded, "Oh, it's just Mrs. S."  (They had never seen me do that before, but maybe the camera was a good excuse!)

On a trip to Georgia, my little sister took me to a graveyard smack dab in the middle of a built-up strip mall area.  We wandered around, wondering at the stories behind the headstones.  The below one caught my eye, so down I sent for a good angle.

On the same trip, I shot a mother/daughter event, where I learned that one of the young daughters was so excited to wear heels for the first time!  I spotted her in the craft room, so I lay down on the floor and shot under the table.  I wasn't able to get the heel in the shot, but I heard her whisper, "Mom--I think she's taking a picture of my shoes!"

Concrete patios are not comfortable beds, but I'll lie down on one to get a shot of a happy insect.

On another Chicago trip, Fernando went fishing off one of the piers, and I brought my camera.  I got down low to capture some grass growing out of a crack in the concrete, with the city (and the Willis Tower) in the background.

One last image, from a trip to the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida.  I can't even remember what this is--the rocket booster?  Engine assembly?  I can't remember!  But I do remember I got on the ground in this Rocket Garden to get a good shot (shot wide open so no sun star).

Now I'm tired.  I think I'll go lie down.  ;)


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Weekly Header Challenge - Cold

It's time for the Weekly Header Challenge!

"Headbanger" Participants

Craver VII 

Fishing Guy 

Katney 

Imac 

Lew 

I'm joining in the group above for this weekly challenge.

Click on the other participants' blogs to see

what they've come up with!

Theme ~ Cold

It has certainly been cold this winter!  And I have certainly been cold.  There's no more appropriate theme for this week, especially as I'm typing this while two sons are out shoveling the driveway, and Fernando is fighting snowstorm traffic to get another to the train station for his trip downtown to UIC.

I chose the below image for my header.  I took this one through a car window while out running errands.  I was not driving.  :)

December 29, 2010

About 15 minutes before the above picture, I convinced my driver to stop along the road to get a scenic shot of the white-encrusted landscape from the ice storm the night before.

More Theme Images

Cold means that there's not much red on the thermometer.

January 21, 2011

Cold means frost on the garden plants.

January 15, 2013

Cold means snow blowing and sticking on the window (the start of a blizzard).

February 1, 2011

Cold means staying indoors, and taking a picture of the blizzard from the comfort of a warm house.

February 1, 2011 - 10:02pm

Cold means frozen downspouts.

March 7, 2013

Cold means no more sitting on my bench.

November 25, 2013

Cold means no more gardening.

March 7, 2013

Cold means no grilling.

February 3, 2011 - The Blizzard +1

Cold means tromping--it's no longer called walking.  ;)

March 7, 2013

Cold means shoveling snow (or taking pictures of someone else shoveling snow!).

January 7, 2010

Cold means beautiful icicles sparkling in the sun.

February 14, 2010

Cold means watching flocks of birds scrounge for food in my back yard.

January 27, 2011

Cold means a wintry, barely seen sunset through the snowy trees.

January 21, 2012

Cold also means bundling up really, really well for a day at the sledding hill.

January 9, 2010

Finally, cold means frosty snow on the sidewalk, and an opportunity to play with editing a bit.  :)

February 16, 2011

Brr.  Please stay warm today!!


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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